The county plans to clear a repaving backlog even as officials wonder how to manage when a 2-cent tax expires in 2006.
By WILL VAN SANT
Published October 24, 2004
BROOKSVILLE - Hernando County plans an aggressive road repaving schedule for the current fiscal year to clear a backlog and ensure that the repair program wraps up as intended in 2007.
Some $6.6-million has been dedicated for the repaving of 76 miles of residential roads during the year that began Oct. 1. If the work gets done by Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year, the county will have largely completed all residential roads slated for repaving when the program began in 1998.
At that point, the focus will shift from repaving to road maintenance.
"It's an important year for us," said county engineer Charles Mixson. "We are turning the corner now."
All residential roads in the Hernando Beach and Weeki Wachee areas, as well as in Spring Hill, should be completed by next September. All of the original soil cement-based roads laid by the Deltona Corp. in Spring Hill in the late 1960s and early 1970s will get fresh asphalt.
The popular program is funded in part by a 3-cents-per-gallon gas tax paid in Hernando County, 2 cents of which is to expire in 2006. Gas tax revenue was not as high as hoped in fiscal 2004, Mixson said, which forced the county to slow some repaving projects.
Also, the private paving firm the county hired, DAB Constructors, did little work in March, April and May because of the time needed to revamp and renew its contract with Hernando, Mixson said. Then came another hit - the hurricane season - and work stalled for about a month.
To move things along, the county has hired a second firm in addition to DAB, Florida Highway Products, that specializes in recoating roads to prolong their durability.
"We are catching up quick," Mixson said.
Some of the residential roads to be repaved are among those first worked on when the program began and have prematurely deteriorated.
Mixson said the contractor was not responsible for the failed roads, pointing out that putting down asphalt is not an exact science. There may have been unforeseen problems with a road's base, for instance. Or, if a trucking firm moves into an area and increases traffic, a road could deteriorate fast.
One of the road program's virtues is regular inspections of completed work, Mixson said, and he stressed that having to go back to earlier projects is actually a sign that the county has a workable approach to keeping roads in good shape.
"You are getting to it before it actually fails," he said. "That's a good thing."
Another $4.3-million has been set aside for repaving more than 22 miles of collector roads, which are larger and are fed by residential road networks.
More heavily traveled, collector roads fail faster than residential roads and often require more elaborate upgrades than mere repaving, such as widening. The county is behind in its collector road program, but Mixson said the pace of repaving would pick up once residential roads are finished.
Among the collector roads slated for repaving: Cortez Boulevard from Shoal Line Boulevard to U.S. 19, Elgin Boulevard from Deltona Boulevard to Mariner Boulevard, and Mondon Hill Road from U.S. 41 to Cortez Boulevard.
Dec. 12, 2006, is a critical date for the road program. Two cents of the gas tax, representing about $1-million in revenue, is set to expire. One cent of the tax will be retained indefinitely for road maintenance.
In addition to the gas tax, the program relies on $2-million in county money every year. Coming up with the cash has proved difficult, with county commissioners having to shift and raid funds.
When the 2 cents of gas tax expire in 2006, Mixson said, the $2-million will become even more critical if the road program is to be successful and the investment already made protected.
"We can live without that 2 cents," he said. "But we will not be able to get by with just 1 cent. We will still need the $2-million."
Anyone interesting in learning whether a certain road is to be repaved this year may call the county Engineering Department at 754-4062 and ask for Bill Busch, the county's pavement management coordinator.
